Chinese university denies detaining gene-editing scientist He Jiankui

The location of a Chinese scientist dubbed “Chinese Frankenstein” for his apparently having created the world’s first gene-edited babies remains unknown one week after he caught the ire of local health officials and scientists for his experiment.

He Jiankui was the subject of local media reports over the weekend that claimed he was put under house arrest near the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, according to the South China Morning Post.

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But a spokesman for the university told the outlet that wasn’t true – and declined to elaborate further.

The reports came days after Jiankui spoke at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

He said at the conference that the twin girls whose genes he edited to disable an HIV-related gene were born “normal and healthy” earlier in November.

Jiankui first told the world of his controversial experiment last week in a YouTube video.

“Right after we sent (the mother)’s husband’s sperm into her egg, we also sent in a little bit a protein and instructions for a gene surgery,” he explained. “This surgery removed the doorway through which HIV enters to infect people.”

The video was met with much backlash from the scientific community; a group of experts behind the Hong Kong summit reportedly called it “deeply disturbing” and called for an investigation to check on Jiankui’s scientific claim.

Chinese health officials at the Science and Technology Ministry were also put off by the experiment, and last Thursday suspended all of Jiankui’s ongoing projects, according to the South China Morning Post.

Vice Minister Xu Nanping reportedly said that the experiment violated Chinese laws and regulations, and that the ministry would be punishing those involved pending an investigation.

The university, too, attempted to distance itself from Jiankui, releasing a statement saying he has been on leave from the school since February and denying any involvement in his experiment.